I still miss Bloom County.
Pitt survived its game with Wofford. Time will tell just how tough Wofford was. Off-hand and without having seen the game, I’d say Woodall and Gibbs shooting a combined 6-22 was a big issue.
That said, it still went in as a win. Gary McGhee is not Blair, or Gray or even Ontario Lett. Still he’s showing progress.
Plus, while the defense was spotty in the first half, they held Wofford late.
Pitt, which trailed 31-24 at halftime, clamped down on Wofford defensively. The Terriers, who returned all five starters from a 16-14 Southern Conference team, scored only six points in the final 6:22 of the game.
“I thought we were in good shape, but they made more plays than we did when it counted most,” Wofford coach Mike Young said. “Our guys are devastated that we didn’t finish the deal. They feel like we blew it.”
Coach Dixon felt that the team would respond better to reassurances than lots of screaming at halftime.
Dixon started five new players for the first time in his career, and it showed in the early stages. There were uncharacteristic defensive breakdowns, bad turnovers and poor blockouts on rebounds. That was the most disappointing part for Dixon, whose program was built around defense and rebounding.
Even though things looked bleak with a 31-24 deficit at the intermission, Dixon took a different approach in the locker room.
“I didn’t hop all over them,” he said. “I told them, ‘I guarantee you that we play better in the second half.’ It was almost like we were too pumped up to play.”
That was the result of the emotional pregame ceremony when the players watched taped video messages from the four departed players who meant so much to the team a year ago — Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, Levance Fields and Tyrell Biggs.
“It was real emotional, seeing those guys,” Wanamaker said. “Then, we had the jitters. It was everyone’s first start, so we were nervous.”
Hopefully. We will see a little more tomorrow when Pitt plays at 5:30 as part of the ESPN Hoops Marathon. The game is on ESPN2. Andy Katz at ESPN2 has a list of reasons to watch all the games.
14. The imploding program: Binghamton. This almost feels like slowing down to see the damage left by a wreck on the side of the road. After six of the Bearcats’ best players (who accounted for 89 percent of the scoring) were thrown off the team in September, just three bodies remain of the defending America East champs, and the roster includes six walk-ons. Former Temple star Mark Macon got his first win as interim coach when the Bearcats beat Division II Bloomsburg 54-49 on Saturday. But trying to beat Pitt at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2 is a different story.
15. The next DeJuan Blair: Dante Taylor, Pitt. Taylor has the physique but doesn’t muster the Blair effort just yet. He scored 13 points and grabbed five boards in Pitt’s comeback win over Wofford on Friday night. The Panthers will need a consistent effort out of Taylor.
Yeah. Before Binghamton self-detonated, it looked like that could have been a very tough game. Not going to be able to liveblog it. In fact, I have to DVR-delay watching. There will be an open thread, of course.
As big a recruiting weekend as it was for Pitt football, the Pitt basketball team is already angling for 2011 with Sterling Gibbs stopping by unofficially. I’m not sure how serious either side is right now, but the lines are still open. Even plans for 2012 are afoot as Omar Calhoun, a 6-4 sophomore guard already offered by Villanova and getting interest from Louisville and Kansas took a visit.
“It was a tremendous visit,” said Calhoun Sr., “Coach Knight has been incredible and it was great because we were able to see what kind of emphasis Coach Dixon and their program put on supporting their players academically. Seeing that piece of the puzzle was very important to both Omar (a 4.0 student) and I. It was also really nice to see the way they still have their arms around players from the past as well as both Carl Krauser and Ronald Ramon were around, two New York guys, and still welcomed with open arms even though they’re no longer student athletes. That was impressive and definitely showed that it’s a family at Pitt. It was obvious to me they really care about the kids on and off the floor and give them a lot of individual attention.” Calhoun was also impressed with the Peterson Events Center.
“The facilities were beautiful,” said Calhoun, “and we were able to experience a true game-day atmosphere because the game was very competitive and exciting, they showed a lot of grit in coming back to win that game and their crowd was into it. Coach Dixon was gracious enough to spend time and talk to us after and expressed that Omar is a priority for them.” Asked about any list his son might have in his head Calhoun Sr. said: “After that visit Pitt has to be right at the top, it’s hard to imagine anything topping it.”
Sounds nice. Again, this is only a high school sophomore. Take it all with a grain of salt.
This time, next week Pitt will have a tough game against the Wichita State Shockers in Kansas City. One thing to note, while Pitt will still be without Jermaine Dixon (probably) and Gilbert Brown, the Shockers will lack their senior starting guard and leading scorer.
Wichita State is already 1-0 without leading scorer senior guard Clevin Hannah, who was suspended for the first three games because he wasn’t properly certified last season. The error was deemed to be administrative. That’s too bad for the Shockers. Hannah misses the Arkansas-Moticello game but will also have to sit out the CBE semifinal against Pitt in Kansas City, a game the Shockers would (and maybe still can) have a shot at winning.
Pitt’s got a couple games between now and then to keep improving.
